The most widely employed technique for the production of continuous glass filaments consists essentially of drawing the filaments from a feeder or bushing having a base plate provided with a plurality of nozzles or projections, each of the projections having an orifice adapted to permit the molten glass to flow therethrough to provide a stream of molten material in a fiberizable condition. Such projections are otherwise known as "tips".
Such "tip" type bushings substantially reduce the phenomenon of "flooding" of the bushing bottom wall upon a disruption of a filament forming operation, known as a "breakout".
Flooding, the process wherein molten glass emerging from the bushing bottom wall generally spreads over the lower face of the bottom wall, is an acute problem with "tipless" bushings. That is, flooding is a particularly significant problem for bushings having a bottom wall comprised of a generally smooth or flat perforated plate with the streams of molten glass flowing from the orifices through the plate.
The flooding problems associated with such tipless bushings account for the fact that such bushings are not widely employed. The present invention provides a system wherein the phenomen of flooding and the problems associated therewith can be substantially reduced.